The Pella High baseball team is off to an 0-3 start this season, but coach Jesse Jablonski sees a bright future ahead for this year’s squad.

The Dutch are led by a trio of seniors who have started all four years of their high school careers – Avery Van Zee, Landon Vander Leest and Jaden Rolffs.

Beyond that, however, the Dutch are extremely young, with five sophomores and two freshmen among the regular rotation. Jablonski says that this year’s version of the green-and-white reminds him a lot of the 2014 squad.

“That team was young in a lot of positions as well and we had a lot of young talent, just like we do now. That team took some lumps and had to learn some things along the way, but by the end of the year we ended up with 26 wins and made it to the substate game. We were playing our best baseball towards the end of the season, and I think that this team is very capable of having a similar type of season to the 2014 team.”

The 2014 team featured sophomore Grant Judkins and freshman Tyler Hillman, a pair of future all-staters. The Dutch used that success as a springboard to back-to-back state tournament appearances in 2015 and 2016.

This year’s Pella squad will look to get its first wins of the season this week with a schedule that features games at Pella Christian on Wednesday, at Chariton on Thursday, and then a home doubleheader with Indianola Friday.

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